Michael Smith crashes out of World Darts Championship as rival stands tall in 'most stressful game of my life'
Shattered Michael Smith last night crashed out of the Worlds at the hands of Kevin Doets.
The 2023 champion’s miserable year was capped by a tie-breaker loss to the Dutchman.
Doets almost dumped Smith 12 months ago, but took his ultimate revenge for that agonising defeat to win a thriller.
Bully Boy’s loss will see him plummet down the rankings as well as crash out of the Ally Pally.
But it was a special moment for Doets, who said: “This was the most stressful game I’ve had in my life.
“I cannot describe it. The game was weird. He took his sets easily, I took mine easily and the last set was incredible.
“Since he went 2-1 up, I had a focus and, if I felt if I kept it, I wouldn’t lose. To get over the line is amazing. This win means so much to me.”
Beforehand, Scott Williams also won a superb match with a sizzling success over Niko Springer, while there were also comfortable triumphs for Nick Kenny and Matt Campbell over Stowe Buntz and Mensur Suljovic respectively.
